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Chorreadas

Sweet corn pancakes

In the Costa Rican countryside, from the Central Valley to Guanacaste, chorreadas are made when the corn is fresh and milky: kernels are blended into a thick batter with a little sugar and butter and "poured" (chorrear) onto a hot griddle, then eaten with a dollop of natilla, Costa Rica's soured cream, and a cup of coffee. They are soft, sweet and taste purely of corn. The common mistake is a thin batter that spreads and tears; it should drop thickly from a spoon, so add masa harina if your corn is very juicy. Chef's tip: leave a few kernels only half-blended so the pancakes have little pops of whole corn.

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Cape brandy puddingDate and walnut brandy pudding

Sometimes called tipsy tart, this baked pudding of dates and walnuts drenched in a hot brandy and butter syrup is what Cape Town and Winelands families bring out for Sunday lunch in winter and for Christmas. It contains brandy, and because the brandy goes into the syrup off the heat most of the alcohol stays, so serve it to adults only; the ingredient note gives an alcohol-free rooibos or orange syrup for everyone else. Expect a dark, sticky, cake-like sponge that is almost wet at the bottom, with crunchy walnuts and a warm caramel and spice flavour, served with custard, cream or vanilla ice cream. The mistake is pouring the syrup over a cooled pudding, which then won't absorb it. Chef's tip: prick the hot pudding all over with a skewer and pour the hot syrup on slowly, letting each ladle sink in before adding the next.

75 min

South African Desserts

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Lagmi (fresh palm sap)

In the oases of the Tunisian south, in Gabès, Tozeur, Nefta, Kebili and on Djerba, palm climbers cut a small wound at the crown of an ageing date palm and hang a clay pot under it overnight. By sunrise it holds lagmi: cloudy, ivory-white sap, cool and sweet, with notes of coconut water and fresh dates. It is sold in recycled bottles at the roadside and drunk the same morning, because the wild yeasts in it begin to ferment almost at once. By afternoon it is fizzy and sour, and by the next day it has become an alcoholic palm wine, also called lagmi, which is a different drink altogether. The common mistake is buying more than you can drink by lunchtime or leaving it in the sun: keep it on ice from the moment you get it. Fresh lagmi is ready to drink when it is sweet, smells clean and milky, and only a few tiny bubbles rise; once it tastes sour or prickles on the tongue, it has started to turn. It is raw and unpasteurised, so pregnant people, babies, older people and anyone unwell should skip it. Outside the oases, fresh coconut water is the closest stand-in. Chef's tip: chill the glasses too; lagmi is at its best ice-cold.

5 min

Tunisian Drinks

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Besan chillaGram flour pancakes

Across North India, besan chilla is the answer when the tiffin needs packing in fifteen minutes: a pourable gram flour batter studded with onion, tomato, chilli and coriander, cooked thin on a tawa, then rolled up with chutney or ketchup. It is naturally egg-free and filling. The common mistake is a thick batter, which gives a heavy, raw-tasting pancake; it should flow like single cream. Chef's tip: spread the batter with the back of a ladle in quick circles from the centre outward, and cover the pan for the first minute so the top steams set.

25 min

Indian Breakfast & Brunch

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Satay beef instant noodles

In Hong Kong's cha chaan teng diners, the morning set often means a bowl of instant noodles in clear broth topped with tender beef in a sweet, peanutty satay sauce, eaten with a buttered bun and a cup of milk tea. Restaurants use a jarred Chinese satay paste; this quick home sauce gets close with peanut butter and curry powder. The usual mistake is putting cold beef in a crowded pan, which makes it stew grey; fry it hot and fast in one layer. Chef's tip: a pinch of bicarbonate of soda in the marinade makes the beef silky and tender, the cha chaan teng way.

20 min

Hong Kong Pasta & Noodles

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Golden syrup dumplings

Golden syrup dumplings are a winter pudding from Australian country kitchens, made during the Depression and still cooked by grandmothers in the Riverina and the Victorian high country when the nights turn cold. Soft scone-dough balls simmer in a sauce of golden syrup, butter and brown sugar until they swell and turn sticky. Serve with vanilla ice cream or custard. A common mistake is a pan that's too small; the dumplings double in size and need space. Chef's tip: keep the lid on and resist peeking, so the tops steam light and fluffy.

35 min

Australian Desserts

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Mangai sadam (raw mango rice)

When hard green mangoes pile up at the markets of Tamil Nadu in April and May, school lunch boxes fill with mangai sadam, sour and fresh like lemon rice but with a fruitier bite. Grated raw mango is cooked only briefly in a mustard, chana dal and curry leaf tempering so it softens but keeps its tang. The mistake is overcooking the mango into mush, which makes the rice sticky; two or three minutes is enough. Chef's tip: taste the mango first. A very sour one needs a pinch of sugar, and a half-ripe one needs a squeeze of lemon at the end.

22 min

Indian Rice & Grains

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CatalinasChewy panela anise cookies

Catalinas are the big dark cookies stacked in clear bags by the till of every Venezuelan bodega and panadería, eaten as a mid-afternoon snack with a glass of cold milk or a small black coffee. The dough is sweetened with melted panela and perfumed with anise, cinnamon and clove, and they stay soft and chewy for days. The mistake people make is baking until hard; they firm up as they cool. Chef's tip: take them out when they have puffed and the edges just feel set.

45 min

Venezuelan Baking

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Shepu bhaji (dill and moong dal)

In Pune and the villages of western Maharashtra, bunches of shepu (dill) come to market in winter, and this dry bhaji of dill and soaked yellow moong dal is packed with bhakri or chapati in the lunch dabba. The dill wilts down to a soft, aromatic tangle, and the moong dal gives it body and a little protein. The mistake is adding water: the leaves release plenty of their own, and extra liquid makes the bhaji stew and lose its fresh, sharp smell. Chef's tip: soak the moong dal for at least 30 minutes beforehand, so it cooks through in the dill's own steam without turning mushy.

25 min

Indian Sides

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Cauliflower avakayaCauliflower pickle

When the mango jars run low and the Andhra and Telangana winter brings piles of dense white cauliflower to the markets, from December to February, households make a cauliflower avakaya. Lemon juice stands in for the sour mango, and the florets are coated in the same masala of mustard powder, chilli, salt, fenugreek and garlic, tempered with gingelly oil. After two days the florets have soaked up the masala but still crunch; the pickle is hot, nose-tingling and bright with lemon. Serve it with hot rice and ghee, with chapati, or beside a plain dal. Cauliflower is not acidic by itself and this pickle contains raw garlic, so it is always kept in the fridge, with plenty of lemon. Common mistake: packing florets that are still damp; wash them in hot salted water to drive out any insects, then dry them for several hours until no moisture remains. It is ready when the florets taste seasoned to the core and the oil and lemon have formed a glossy red sauce. Chef's tip: cut the florets small, about 2 cm, so the masala can reach the middle.

35 min

Indian Chutneys & Dips

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Lal mathachi bhaji (red amaranth stir-fry)

In Mumbai and the Konkan, bunches of red math (amaranth) with their magenta stems come in during the monsoon, and this quick garlicky bhaji turns the dabba's chapatis pink at the edges. It is cooked fast in a hot pan so the leaves stay bright, then finished with a little fresh coconut, the coastal touch that sets it apart from the Bengali way with the same leaf. The mistake is cooking it covered for a long time, which turns it grey and watery. Chef's tip: chop the tender stems finely and cook them for a minute before the leaves go in, so everything is done at the same moment.

18 min

Indian Sides

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Cowheel soup

In Trinidad and Tobago, cowheel soup is Saturday soup: the big pot people make at home or buy from roadside soup vendors after a fete, believed to set you right again. Cow heel is simmered for hours until gelatinous, then yellow split peas, pumpkin and 'provisions' such as dasheen, cassava, eddoes and green bananas go in, with green seasoning, a whole scotch bonnet for perfume and soft flour dumplings dropped in at the end. The broth turns thick and silky from the collagen and split peas. The usual mistake is bursting the scotch bonnet, which makes the pot fiercely hot; leave it whole and lift it out. A pressure cooker gets the cow heel tender in 50 minutes. Chef's tip: buy cow heel already cut and scraped by the butcher, then scrub it with lime before cooking.

200 min

Trinidadian Soups

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ÆggemadEgg and tomato rye sandwich

The Danish madpakke (packed lunch) is a stack of rugbrød slices, each with its own pålæg, and æggemad is the one that shows up in every family's box: dense rye, a smear of butter or mayonnaise, rounds of hard-boiled egg and tomato, and a tuft of cress. In the box, the slices are separated by baking paper so the toppings don't smudge. The common mistake is undercooking the eggs, so the yolk smears and the slices fall apart; for lunchboxes, the yolk must be fully set. Chef's tip: slice the egg with an egg slicer or a wet knife once it is completely cold, and the rounds stay neat.

18 minScandinavian Snacks & Starters

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Coconut icePink and white coconut fudge

Coconut ice is the pink and white sweet that fills Australian school fete stalls, Christmas hampers and CWA cake tables, a no-cook fudge of desiccated coconut, condensed milk and icing sugar. It is soft, chewy and very sweet, so cut small squares. A common mistake is a mixture that's too wet to hold; add more coconut until it's firm enough to press. Chef's tip: press the white layer first, then the pink, and chill before cutting for sharp stripes.

20 min

Australian Desserts

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Ndizi na maharageGreen bananas and red beans

Across Tanzania, from Dar es Salaam to the banana farms around Kilimanjaro, ndizi na maharage is a filling weekday lunch: green cooking bananas and red beans simmered in one pot with tomato, onion and coconut milk until the bananas are soft and the sauce creamy. It needs nothing more than a few slices of avocado or a fresh kachumbari salad on the side. The usual mistake is cooking dried red kidney beans gently from the start: they must boil hard for 10 minutes first to be safe. Peel green bananas with oiled hands, as the sap stains and sticks. Chef's tip: add the bananas only once the beans are tender, then let them simmer until they just break at the edges and thicken the sauce.

90 minEast African Vegetarian

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MsetoRice and green grams

Mseto, meaning 'mixture', is a staple of the Swahili coast from Mombasa to Lamu and Zanzibar, often eaten at lunch or for breaking the fast in Ramadan. Rice and green grams (whole mung beans) cook together in coconut milk with onion and a little turmeric until soft, fluffy and gently creamy. It is served beside a vegetable or bean curry, a kachumbari salad and a squeeze of lime. The usual mistake is adding the rice before the green grams are tender, so the rice turns mushy while the beans stay hard. Chef's tip: once the rice is in, cover the pot tightly and leave it on the lowest heat without lifting the lid, so the rice steams evenly.

55 minEast African Rice & Grains

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Chanko nabeChicken meatball hot pot

Chanko nabe is the daily meal of the sumo stables around Ryōgoku in east Tokyo, where young wrestlers cook a huge pot after morning practice and the senior ranks eat first. At home it is a winter supper cooked on a tabletop burner or on the hob: a clear chicken and kombu dashi seasoned lightly with soy, then loaded with ginger-scented chicken meatballs, tofu, napa cabbage, leek, carrot and mushrooms. Everything cooks in the one pot, and the last of the broth is often finished with udon or rice. The usual mistake is boiling the pot hard once the meatballs go in, which turns the broth cloudy and the tofu ragged; keep it at a lazy simmer. Chef's tip: shape the meatballs with two wet spoons and drop them in before the vegetables, so they flavour the broth while the cabbage softens.

60 min

Japanese Soups

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Chamorro red riceAchiote rice

Red rice, hineksa' agaga', is on the table at every Chamorro fiesta, christening and Sunday barbecue in Guam and the Northern Marianas, its sunset colour coming from achiote (annatto) seeds soaked in water. The rice is cooked with onion and garlic and sometimes peas; it is soft, savoury and mild, the perfect side for grilled chicken, kelaguen and finadene. A common mistake is leaving the seeds in the rice; they're tough and bitter, so soak and strain them. Chef's tip: rub the soaking seeds between your fingers to release more colour.

45 minPacific Islander Rice & Grains

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Sop konroBeef rib soup

Sop konro is the pride of Makassar in South Sulawesi, where warung near the harbour serve big bowls of beef ribs in an almost black broth from lunchtime into the night, often with burasa (rice cooked in coconut milk) or plain rice. The colour and earthy, chocolatey depth come from keluak (kluwek) nuts, simmered with a paste of shallots, garlic, ginger, galangal, toasted coriander seed and candlenut until the rib meat slides off the bone. The usual mistake is using raw keluak: the nuts are only safe after long fermentation, so buy them ready-prepared from an Indonesian shop, and discard any that smell sour or are dry inside. A pressure cooker gets the ribs tender in 50 minutes. Chef's tip: toast the coriander seeds until they crackle before grinding; they carry the whole soup.

180 min

Indonesian Soups

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Poule au potStuffed hen with vegetables

Poule au pot is the Sunday dish of Béarn in south-west France, linked for centuries with King Henri IV's wish that every peasant family should have a chicken in the pot on Sundays. A hen is filled with a stuffing of bread, Bayonne ham (a cured pork ham), chicken livers, garlic and parsley, then poached slowly with leeks, carrots and turnips. The golden broth is served first as a soup, followed by the sliced bird, stuffing and vegetables with a little coarse salt and mustard or a sauce gribiche. The usual mistake is stuffing the bird too tightly: the stuffing swells and can burst the skin, and a dense centre takes longer to cook through. Chef's tip: sew the neck and tail openings shut, or close them with cocktail sticks, so no stuffing leaks into the broth.

215 min

French Chicken

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Tagine bil khorchefLamb tagine with cardoons

In late winter and spring, when wild cardoons (khorchef) appear in the markets of Fez, Meknes and Rabat, Moroccan families cook them into this lamb tagine for a family lunch, eaten with bread to mop up the sauce. Lamb shoulder is simmered slowly with onion, ginger, saffron and turmeric until tender, then the peeled cardoon stalks are added and finished with preserved lemon and green olives, giving a tangy, faintly bitter, artichoke-like sauce. The usual mistake is not peeling and soaking the cardoons properly: the stringy outside must come off and the stalks must sit in lemon water, or they go brown and taste harsh. Artichoke hearts are a good stand-in. Chef's tip: reduce the sauce uncovered at the end until it is thick and oily, the sign of a well-made tagine.

155 min

Moroccan Meat

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DakbaeksukPoached whole chicken

Dakbaeksuk is a whole chicken simmered plain in a big pot, a dish Koreans eat on the boknal 'dog days' of midsummer and at valley restaurants in the mountains, where families sit on platforms by the stream. Unlike samgyetang it is not stuffed; the bird simmers with a fistful of garlic, a few jujubes and dried roots such as astragalus until it falls apart, and you eat the meat with salt and pepper and drink the milky broth. Suitable as part of a balanced diet: high in protein, with no flour or added sugar. About 420 kcal and 8 g carbohydrate per portion; restaurants finish with rice porridge in the broth, so keep that portion small or use brown rice. The usual mistake is boiling it fiercely, which makes the meat stringy; it should simmer gently. Chef's tip: skim the fat off the broth before serving; it tastes cleaner and lighter.

100 min

Korean Chicken

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Cà phê cốt dừa (coconut coffee)

Hanoi takes its coffee seriously, and in the last fifteen years coconut coffee has become one of the city's signatures, sold from Old Quarter cafés, lakeside balconies around Hoàn Kiếm and tiny stools on the pavement. It is a hot-weather drink, at its best on a sticky afternoon between May and September, eaten half with a spoon. Strong Vietnamese robusta drips slowly through an aluminium phin, then is poured over a pale slush of thick coconut cream, sweetened condensed milk and crushed ice, so you get bitter, dark coffee against something rich and cold that tastes like coconut ice cream. The common mistake is blending the slush too long or with too much ice, which leaves it thin and watery, and pouring the coffee in boiling hot so the slush collapses. Blend just until it looks like soft snow, and let the coffee cool for a minute or two. It is ready when the slush holds a spoon upright and the coffee sits in a dark layer on top. Robusta is high in caffeine and this is a strong drink, so it is not for children and one glass is plenty. Chef's tip: chill the coconut cream overnight; cold, thick cream gives a fluffier slush.

15 min

Vietnamese Drinks

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Ssanghwa-cha (herbal tonic tea)

Ssanghwa-cha is the strongest thing on the menu of an old Korean dabang. From the 1960s these smoky tea rooms served it in thick ceramic cups, dark as coffee, with pine nuts, slivered jujube and walnut floating on top; in winter some still slide a raw egg yolk in, which this recipe leaves out. The brew comes from Korean herbal tradition, where ssanghwa-tang is drunk to warm up and recover from tiredness after hard work or a cold. It tastes earthy and bitter at first, then sweet from licorice and jujube, with warmth from cinnamon and ginger and a celery-like perfume from angelica. Herbal shops sell the roots in pre-measured packs. The common mistake is boiling it hard: the liquid reduces too fast and turns harsh. Keep a gentle simmer with the lid ajar for two hours. It is ready when it is very dark brown, reduced to about a third and smells of cinnamon and roots. Because it contains licorice and angelica, skip it if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have high blood pressure, or take blood thinners or other medicines unless your doctor agrees. Chef's tip: a second, lighter brew from the same roots is good with honey.

135 min

Korean Drinks

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Kaeng khilekCassia leaf curry

Kaeng khilek is an old-fashioned country curry from central Thailand, cooked when the cassia (khilek) trees put out tender shoots after the rains and sold ready-boiled in bags at markets around Ratchaburi and Suphan Buri. The leaves are boiled and drained several times until their bitterness softens, then simmered with pork belly in coconut milk with red curry paste, leaving a dark green, pleasantly bitter, rich curry eaten with jasmine rice and salted egg. This recipe contains pork. The usual mistake is skipping the repeated boiling: cassia leaves must be boiled and drained at least three times, or they are harshly bitter and can upset the stomach. Frozen pre-boiled khilek from Thai shops saves work. Chef's tip: squeeze the boiled leaves firmly in a cloth so they soak up coconut milk instead of water.

90 min

Thai Curries

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Jhinge postoRidge gourd with poppy seeds

Jhinge posto is a summer staple of West Bengal and especially the Bankura and Birbhum districts, where poppy seed (posto) goes into almost every everyday lunch. Ridge gourd is cooked in its own juices with nigella seeds and green chilli, then coated in a creamy paste of ground white poppy seeds, giving a mild, nutty, slightly sweet dish. Serve it with rice and dal, or with a millet roti for a lower-GI plate. It is suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 150 kcal and 9 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is adding water: the gourd releases plenty, and extra water makes the posto runny. Chef's tip: soak the poppy seeds in hot water for 20 minutes before grinding so the paste is smooth, not gritty.

40 min

Indian Vegetarian

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Gigot de sept heuresSeven-hour braised lamb

This is the slow Sunday gigot of the French countryside, set in a low oven after breakfast and eaten at the family lunch or supper, especially in winter and at Easter. The leg of lamb is browned, then braised so long with whole garlic heads, onions, carrots and white wine that the meat is served with a spoon rather than a knife, and the garlic melts into the sauce. Serve with white beans, mashed potatoes or simply crusty bread. It cooks with wine; for an alcohol-free version use the same amount of extra stock with a tablespoon of cider vinegar. The usual mistake is a lid that does not fit, so the liquid escapes and the meat dries; seal it with foil under the lid. Chef's tip: turn the leg every two hours and baste it, so the top never dries above the liquid.

460 min

French Meat

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Samosa pavSamosa in a bun

At the steaming kadhais outside Kurla and Ghatkopar stations, and at Sion's famous samosa counters, commuters grab samosa pav on the way to and from the local trains, from breakfast until long after dark. A hot potato samosa is pressed flat inside a soft, split pav with fiery dry garlic chutney and green chutney, and a salted fried green chilli comes on the side. It is filling, cheap, crumbly and hot, and the soft bread soaks up the chutneys. Use dairy-free pav to keep it vegan. Chef's tip: start the samosas in oil that is only warm; slow frying gives the blistered, flaky crust that holds up when squashed.

60 min

Indian Fast Food

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